Blog of Life

High school and middle school students in formation for morning exercises.

No matter where I am, school never stops being school, and try as I might, there is no way I could ever like everything about it. Regardless of what it will do for my future, it is hard to ignore the present and its annoyances. Most schools are not exactly a place people spend time in, and my school in China is no exception. One of the things I miss most about Newton North is all the opportunities students have. Clubs, electives, choosing your own classes, and activities after school are not as available here.

Below is a schedule of what I do on a normal school day. I also wrote a list of pros and cons to attending Beijing Jingshan Middle School (it's not just a middle school, but that is its name; it is also a high school and elementary school).

5:00am——I wake up. Or, at least, my first alarm goes off. It usually takes me about ten-twenty minutes to actually get out of bed. 5:15-5:25am——I take a shower. I think people here usually shower at night, but I got too used to showering in the morning to break the habit. 6:10-6:20am——Leave the apartment. I usually bike to the nearest subway station, then take line 6, switch to line 5, then walk to school. This takes almost an hour. 7:20-8:00am——Sort of a study hall, we usually just hang out and read, do homework, or study. If the pollution is not too bad, we at some point go out for a morning run (4 laps around the school if you are a girl, 5 if you are a guy) or do morning exercises. On Mondays, instead of exercising, we have a ceremony and raise the flag. This takes about 30 minutes.

This type of Morning Exercises is slower and less amusing than the others. I will post another video soon.

8:00-8:40am——First class of the day. Periods here are only 40 minutes long. However, the same class is often repeated one after the other in order to create a “double block.” For instance, I have Geography during first and second period every Tuesday.

8:40-8:50am—Break. We have 10 minute breaks between every class.

8:50am-12:05pm——Four more periods (a total of five periods before lunch) with breaks in between and five minutes for eye exercises. Video below.

12:05-1:25pm——One hour lunch plus one ten minute break before and another ten minute break afterward. Lunch does not take too long to eat, so we usually have time to catch up on books, tv shows, or attend school events.

1:25-1:30pm——Eye exercises again.

1:30-varies——Depending on the day, we might have two, three, or even four more periods (with their respective breaks) after lunch.

6:00pm——Arrive home.

6:00-7:00pm——Eat dinner.

7:00-varies——After dinner, I will read, do homework, watch TV, edit pictures, do laundry, or do whatever needs to be done.

Pros:

Some of our classes are fun. We got to do some Chinese painting, Chinese seal carving, calligraphy, and even painted plates.

We have a lot of free time. It has given me a lot of time to read.

There's really good bakeries right outside the school. There's also tea places, coffee places, and a grocery story where everything is really cheap. Sodas are only 3 yuan which is about 50 american cents!

We can watch movies during our host siblings' classes.

The commute is surprisingly fun and useful.

Sometimes we don't wear the uniform and nobody cares.

I'm learning much more Chinese than I would if I were in the U.S.

Because everybody stays in one classroom and people in each class are the same every year, people build strong relationships with most of their classmates.

The school is in the middle of Beijing, really close to many tourist spots, but far enough that the streets are not too crowded.

People never understand why a white girl (me) is wearing a uniform. It's hilarious.

They have a lot of culture shows and presentations that we can go to.

The elementary school is connected to our school, and the kids are so adorable.

The stress is minimal! Given the stressful last few years, I welcomed the calmness.

Learn about the school system. For example, each class has a leader and a P.E. leader that ensures their class is doing everything properly, that they lower their voices, etc.

Sometimes we tour Beijing instead of having Chinese class, but it's still Chinese class because we are in China.

Cons:

We have lots of classes with our host siblings, all of which are in Chinese. During those classes we have to sit on the back quietly and try not to disturb our classmates.

The day is really long. Even when we only have two periods after lunch (which is rare), I procrastinate the commute back home and end up not getting home until 6pm.

The lunch is terrible, and student have to buy it. It's obligatory.

We cannot leave school grounds until school is over. Craving soda or actual food? Ain't gonna happen.

There is no wifi. Well, there is but nobody will tell us the password.

It's hard to get a signal. That's right, we can't even spend our precious data at school.

Wearing a uniform. Honestly, this could go under both pros and cons. I think the uniform is even starting to grow on me.

The terrible pollution. China does not give cancel school unless the pollution is at over 500 PM2.5, but they also lie about it so it is never officially over 500 PM2.5.

Water from water fountains comes out hot. HOT.

Trash cans are tiny.

There is no toilet paper, so you have to bring your own.

Another thing about the bathrooms: they are squat toilets. Don't know what that is? Google it.

There is a terrible lack of diversity. I know this is because China is not diverse, but still.

Because your school does not depend on where you live, everybody lives far from one another. It makes it near impossible to hang out after school or visit your friends' homes.

As you can tell, my experience in Chinese school is very different from that of the typical Chinese student. Although I enjoy the more relaxing pace, I definitely miss the learning and efficiency I felt when I was taking my old classes at Newton North. I also miss being able to pick what classes I want to take and the structure that NNHS offers.

In order to prevent getting bored, I have established goals I must achieve before leaving. It has worked wonders so far. Although it seems like the experience is very tedious (which it is sometimes), I would not give it up because I know I am experiencing something most people could only dream of. I am also well aware that the trip is so long it is impossible to make every moment a perfect moment.